Edinburgh, Scotland

I had seen the slow becoming of the city from dawn to sunrise to the flocking of tourists. Its early morning breeze with the aroma of coffee beans being brewed from coffee shops we chanced upon gave a hint of yet another overly caffeinated, fun-filled day exploring the “not so surprising” Europe-ish neighborhood that still baffles me in awe every time. I used to hate the sound of alarm but not during this time in December. Each alarm would set off another day of me living my used-to-be wildest dreams. Writing this is like re-living all the “kilig” moments. This is how I capped off the year 2019, well, partly, with my sister, and it was a great way to coddle ourselves after putting all the hard work to make this travel finally happen.

Durham City, England

If my feet could talk, they probably have given me a good nag left and right. I was just in York yesterday, and today’s a different story. I’m still tired from the past few days and it feels like it’s gonna last forever. LOL. A month-long vacation may seem quite some time but when you’re enjoying, the clock just ticks so fast. So instead of staying in the flat all day glued to my phone, I thought it would be better to go on a day trip somewhere. Somewhere is generally a nice place especially when you’re not in your homeland, so much so in Europe.

York, England

The train is scheduled to leave the central station at 6 in the morning and today’s the first day of transportation strike in Newcastle which means I have to wake up extra early. One eye opened and one eye still closed, I got my lazy ass out of bed and went straight to the fridge to get my ready-to-consume breakfast and put it in the microwave. The room temperature was playing around 1-3 °C. I had chills while staring blankly God knows where waiting for that exciting sound that the oven makes which I expect will snap me out of my still dreaming self. I went back and forth to the bathroom until I am finally ready. Uber’s here. I arrived in the station only to find out that my trip got cancelled. I panicked. I approached a guy who I was hoping is working there during that time. I got lucky. He immediately assisted me and I was informed that I can easily just hop on like a partner train line that will pass by York. Thank goodness I got here and this is exactly where I needed to be.

Northern Ireland | GoT Tour

I had chills both from the high winds and the fact that we will be seeing some of the places in the Northern Ireland where Game of Thrones shot their scenes. Wake me up! I’ve always wanted to go to Dubrovnik, Croatia because of King’s Landing but I don’t mind seeing first these tiny bits of details that make up some of the notable scenes in GoT. So stoked! It’s a dream come true just to be able to breathe the same air and step on the same soil as the casts did. I’m exaggerated like that! Game of Thrones fans will know how it feels. 😀

Belfast, Northern Ireland

Packing up and preparing for your trip is probably one of the most tiring and dismaying part of traveling. Imagine going on a trip for almost a month, and you need to fit everything in one big luggage and it shouldn’t exceed 30 kilograms. Oh dear! It took me days, even weeks I guess, to finish that and no matter how many times I carried and weighed my luggage, I never had full confidence that it won’t fail me when it’s about time to check it in. I organized everything, from clothes to more clothes, in a way where I can easily take some ‘less important’ stuff out of my luggage in case worst scenario happens.